Reflection
by CodyNaomiSwire
Summary: Just wondered what it might have been like for Adrien when he saw his Chat Noir reflection for the first time. Written before seeing any episodes pertaining to how Adrien became Chat Noir in the first place, so apologies for any incongruities with the canon that may be there. Hope you enjoy anyway!


**Author's Note: Just wondered what it might have been like for Adrien when he saw his Chat Noir reflection for the first time. Written before seeing any episodes pertaining to how Adrien became Chat Noir in the first place, so apologies for any incongruities with the canon that may be there. Hope you enjoy anyway!**

Adrien remembers the first time he saw his reflection after his transformation.

He remembers looking at the cat-like person before him, feeling a strange combination of disconnect, amazement, puzzlement, disbelief, self-consciousness, amusement, admiration, and a feeling that could only be described as "this has never felt so _right_."

Of course being a model for his father's fashion magazines, Adrien was used to seeing his image behind a sort of mask – putting on an air of confidence and joviality when such emotions could really be very far from what he was actually feeling - and even sometimes in outfits that could be seen as a bit unconventional. But this was taking things to a whole new level.

As he studied himself in the mirror, Adrien couldn't help but turn this way and that, as if posing for a photo shoot, studying his new outfit and how it fit him. He still wasn't sure what kind of material it was made out of, though he knew for sure that it must've had some sort of magical origins. He marveled at how flexible it was, how it fit his form perfectly, and how it breathed so well despite its perceived leathery texture and stiffness. It made him feel protected, yet also light and natural.

His father would surely be jealous of its tailor, he thought with a small, grim smile as his mind briefly turned to the stoic, distant man.

As he turned to look at his back, head straining to look over his shoulder, it surprised Adrien to find that his tail swished about in response to his movements, in a way almost as if it had a mind of its own! He then realized with a jolt that he could move it consciously of his own accord, as naturally as he could any of his other appendages. His eyes went wide, a startled sound escaped his throat, and he shuddered to think that the transformation had somehow made it so that he had actual nerves running through it from his spinal cord. But upon further examination though, he found that this was not the case.

But then how-?

"Oh, of course," Adrien sighed with relief as he realized. "Magic."

He then found a similar principle seemed to apply to his ears. " _These_ are certainly going to take some time getting used to," he thought with pursed lips as he had them twitch up and down atop his head, and tugged at them with his claw-tipped fingers. _"Yet another thing to get used to,"_ he thought, as he held up a spindly gloved hand in front of his face, raising an eyebrow at the pointed fingertips.

Adrien now wondered if he could even take off the gloves covering his hands, especially as he wanted to see if he had actual claws on the ends of his fingers now, or if they were merely a part of the glove itself. Very carefully, Adrien tried to pull off his glove, finding that it came with a feeling of discomfort and slight pain, as if he was trying to pull off an actual part of his body. His nerves may not actually be connected up to this mysterious disguise, but it sure felt like it in some ways.

He frowned at this, and then turned to study the most unnerving thing about his new appearance.

 _His eyes._

Bighting at his lower lip and frowning a little, his eyebrows pinching together, Adrien stared back at the haunting green that looked back at him. As much as everything else about his new form still came with a feeling of disconnect, he felt it strongest when it came to this. Though he knew them to be his own eyes, it still felt a bit like looking into the eyes of a stranger. The eyes may be known as 'the windows to the soul,' but all that Adrien could see in these was an enigma; something managing to maintain a hint of the human that he really was, but also something very alien and unsettling.

"But…Also kinda cool in their own way, I guess" Adrien mused, his expression softening a little, and his cat-like pupils dilating into a more relaxed oval shape.

With these new eyes, Adrien he could see things now that he couldn't have before. He found out very quickly that seeing in the dark was no problem for him, and he could pick out certain details in things that he wouldn't have been able to otherwise. One of these details that he noticed now was that his mask didn't completely cover the area around his eyes, and that the skin around them had also gone dark.

He wondered how it must look without his mask on.

Perhaps his new cat-like nature only served to up the curiosity factor ("curiosity and the cat" and all that), and though he knew it would hurt him a bit, Adrien delicately began to peel away at the side of his mask*. It stung a bit, and he nearly stopped as he felt Plagg knock at his consciousness with alarm and inquiry at his actions. But with a quick movement of his wrist - as if ripping off a large band-aid - Adrien managed to peel the mask off completely, and looked back up at the mirror.

Honestly, he didn't look all that different without his mask on, though the dark area around his eyes didn't extend as far along his face as the mask would have. It looked more like he had on a kind of war paint; a single thick, dark streak splashed across his eyes. Gingerly, Adrien slid two fingers across the dark path that it marked over his eyes, admiring how cool it looked!** Adrien would've studied it longer, were it not for his tender skin beginning to prickle with discomfort, as if it were an open scrape now exposed to the air. With one last quick glance at his face, Adrien replaced his mask back over his eyes, and waited for the stinging pain in his face to subside.

Surprisingly quick, the pain did go away, and as Adrien again looked up and down his new form, his mind began to make the necessary connections between him and his new identity.

 _He was Cat Noir now - Paris's own crime-fighting superhero!_ This was a part of who he was now, and with Plagg and his Miraculous, Adrien now had the chance to take part in a fun, secret life of magic and adventure!

 _Miraculous_ …Yes, definitely a very fitting word for it all!

"I guess this isn't so bad," Cat Noir said to himself out loud as he turned to strike another cat-like pose. A new, confident smile began to spread its way across his face, and his eyes glimmered with delight at the sight of this new, confident reflection before him.

"Oh yeah! I could definitely get used to this!"

* I know in the episode _Lady Wifi_ it was revealed that nobody can remove Ladybug or Chat Noir's masks because of magic, but at the same time it hasn't been confirmed that they themselves cannot remove their own masks. Even if they can't, like I said, just writing for fun. ^^

** Inspired by how Adrien puts on his mask during his transformation scenes.


End file.
